Saturday, November 05, 2011

Colombia: several deaths and at least 28 missing in a landslide

Landslide in Colombia

AFP - Four people died and at least 28 people are missing following a landslide that buried ten homes in the Colombian city of Manizales (278 km west of Bogota), announced Saturday the Cross Red AFP. "We have a confirmed list of 28 people who were there" when the incident occurred, told AFP Jorge Zambrano, coordinator of the relief agency in Manizales, a city of about 350,000 inhabitants. According to an initial assessment in addition to these 28 missing at least four people were killed in the landslide, has announced the Red Cross.

The fire chief of the region, Carlos Marin, for his part told the press that at least 32 families were affected by the landslide and said five places where there might be the victims had been located. The man called on residents to be cautious, noting that the ground was unstable. The rainy season, which began in late September in Colombia, has killed more than forty people and left 250,000 homeless. Three other people also died Saturday after a mudslide on their house, not far from Calarca (Quindio department) in the west

Between April 2010 and April 2011, unusually heavy rains caused by the weather phenomenon La Nina, had killed over 400 people and left 3.6 million homeless. La Nina is a cyclical weather phenomenon that is characterized by lower average temperatures in the sea surface in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. Click here to find out more!